Covert Operations - General (2125 - 2149)

[Googlie]

2125 NewsFlash

We are now the leading team!!

(Plus, SCC Invincible, damaged with only 3 movement points, continues east arpound our southern shoreline)

Partial map, and powerbar charts below (This is before any expenditure of ec's to change to Planned - ie, extracted from the 2125 midturn save)

[Zeiter]

Wow! First? Getting applied physics last turn must have given us a big boost. I bet we'll really shoot up the chart next turn when getting planetary networks is factored in.

[Googlie]

Hmm - that might already be factored in (I'm not sure if this 2125 powerbar chart that we see is the same as what, say, the Gaians saw (ie only renews at the beginning of a turn, or if it is dynamically renewed)

I suspect the former, as we got both a tech and a new population at our 5th base after this turn opened.

G.

(I guess I could "scenario check" it, but right now I have other "stuff' to do!!)

[Zeiter]

So, now we know about the University:
*Zak has gene splicing! Nutrient restriction lifting would be awesome this early, if we could find a way to get it.
*Zak seems to be located to our east.

[Googlie]

Zak in 2125:

[Googlie]

Updating (2125) of the factions' populations, etc:

Hive: 21 pops (up from 17 last turn!!) - running Police/Planned/Survival
University: 11 - running Democratic/Planned/Survival
Sparta: 6 (up from 4 and about to grow to 7 next turn) - running Frontier/Simple/Survival
Gaians: 6 (up from 5) - running Frontier/Planned/Survival
Angels: 6 (up from 5) - running Frontier/Simple/Survival
Morgan: 5 (same) - running Frontier/Free Market/Wealth

[Googlie]

Covert Operations - General (2125 - 2149)

This will be the thread to post general Covert Operations comments, orders, speculations re the AI, etc (the 3 other factions will have their own threads)

[Dis]

this is an intersting game. we have to be careful not to get smashed by the AI, not just the human factions. The Hive is going to be very powerful. And the University is sure to have air power very fast. Before us most likely.

[Kassiopeia]

We're keeping up with the other humans, that's important. Hive is growing pretty massively, I can't wait for us to get our hands on that territory.

[Googlie]

I agree (with Diss). And it's noteworthy that yang has signed a treaty with us, but Zak won't - he's "obstinate"

If Buster has set it up that Yang is a power in his own right (the Jungle, fast growing, industrial/militaristic) and is counterbalanced by a Uni-PK alliance, maybe set to dislike Yang? then we need to choose our friends and enemies wisely

Zak seems a softer target than Yang (actually, Lal seems the softest judging from the powercharts) but I guess getting into vendetta with one of the Zak/Lal combo means vendetta with the other

If we could get Zak to become submissive, we'd then be in a position to out-research the other human factions, which would suggest maybe a deal with Yang might be in our best short term interests

At some point, though, we'd be almost "honor bound" to take Yang out of the game, then as Kass says, we can get our hands on that lovely real estate

[Zeiter]

I agree, I'd much rather fight the Uni/PK axis than the Hive behemoth. We also have much more tech and stuff to gain from Uuni/PK than from the Hive. I'd also say that even after the Hive falls behind the human factions, it will still hang tough for a while because of its industry, population, and perimeter defenses. So really, I agree, the Hive wouldn't be a bad ally to have.

[Googlie]

Status as of 2126

Looks like our overall lead was short-lived

Population Stats:

• Hive - 23
• University - 14
• Sparta - 8
• PK's - 8 (but 12 Council votes)
• Gaians - 7
• Morgan - 7
• Angels - 6

[Zeiter]

We're still pretty much tied with Morgan. I wouldn't call that "losing the lead" just yet. And we are now more powerful than Lal.

The Hive and University are just exploding in pop. The Hive because of the jungle and inherent Hive growth bonus, and Zak because he's running demo/planned, and he probably has a few creches built, giving him a pop boom in a few cities.

I'm very surprised that we are still first in pop among the human teams. I wonder if the other teams are like, "Man, what's up with the Spartans? Aren't they supposed to be a weak early game faction? What's going on, why are they still keeping up with us?"

[Maniac]

Hmm, anyone noticed that Lal has an agressive personality?

[Maniac]

Something else. IIRC it has been suggested to sell Planetary Networks (which everyone has anyway) to Lal for 25 credits. Will we do that next turn?